The project is an existing, operating hydroelectric facility located
on the Columbia River near the city of Wenatchee, Washington.
The project occupies approximately 1,500 acres, of which about
152 acres are federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management
and the Forest Service. The project is licensed to Public Utility
District No. 1 of Chelan County (Chelan PUD).

In this DEIS, Commission staff, assessed the environmental and
economic effects of:

Continuing to operate the project with no changes or enhancements
(noaction alternative);

Operating the project as proposed by Chelan PUD (Chelan
PUD's proposal); and

Operating the project as proposed by Chelan PUD with additional
or modified environmental measures (staff alternative).

Staff has chosen the third option refereed to as the 'staff alternative'
as the preferred alternative because:

The project would provide a significant and dependable
source of electrical energy for the region (6.0 million MWh
annually);

The project would avoid the need for an equivalent amount
of fossil fuel-fired electric generation and capacity, thereby
continuing to help conserve these nonrenewable energy resources
and reduce atmospheric pollution; and

The protection, mitigation, and enhancement measures proposed
by Chelan PUD, as modified and combined with the additional
measures recommended by staff, would adequately protect and
enhance environmental resources and mitigate impacts of the
project.

The overall benefits of this alternative would be worth the cost
of proposed environmental measures and would outweigh the consequences
of not implementing the other alternatives or of license denial.